RUMFORD, Maine — A 26-year-old Mexico, Maine man is facing a slew of charges including aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon after eluding police in a chase and injuring an officer Tuesday night.
Rumford Police say at approximately 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, an officer monitoring traffic on Franklin Street when a car sped past him, exceeding the posted 25 MPH limit. The car, a grey 2008 Hyundai Tiburon, then drove through a blind intersection on the wrong side of the road, endangering other drivers, police say.
The officer, Rumford Police Corporal Lawrence Winson, activated his lights and siren, but the driver refused to stop and attempted to elude the officer while continuing to drive on the wrong side of the road and blowing through a number of stop signs.
Winson followed the car onto Flood Street in Mexico where the driver attempted to hide by turning off his lights and parking in a driveway. The officer approached the car to order the driver out of the car, but then the driver, Joshua Billings, revved his engine and appeared to be getting ready to take off again.
Billings was ordered to stop but he backed up and hit Winson in the right hand and knocked him to the ground.
Police say the car then came at the officer, who feared he was about to be run over, and rolled out of the way. The car then sped off without its lights on.
An alert was sent to all officers in the region to be on the lookout, but an initial search of the area was unsuccessful.
Police received reports from locals of sightings, one reporting seeing the suspect car driving erratically on Swett Avenue with no lights on.
About an hour later, Billings’ family members contact Rumford Police to report that he was hiding at his residence on Ledgeview Drive in Mexico. The family assisted police in arranging for Billings to turn himself in to officers at the Rumford Police Department.
Billings was taken into custody without incident, police say. He is expected to make his initial court appearance remotely from Oxford County Jail Wednesday afternoon.
He faces several charges, some of which are felony crimes, and if convicted could face up to 10 years in prison:
- Aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon
- Reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon
- Driving to endanger
- Refusing to stop/eluding a police officer
- Criminal speed/exceeding posted limit by 30 mph or more
- Operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked license
Winson was treated at the Rumford Hospital Emergency Room for a non-life-threatening injury to his hand and was later released. Police say he is expected to recover from his injury.
Rumford Police Chief Tony Milligan commends the Billings’ family and the citizens who acted quickly to offer their assistance in helping the police track Billings down before other members of the public were potentially injured by his dangerous driving.
"Both the officer involved and the suspect are very lucky that this incident did not result in more serious injuries or death,” Mulligan said in a release.